Teddy Lupin and the Darkest Book
by BataFuraiEvans
Summary: Teddy is going to Hogwarts. Peace has fallen upon the wizarding world. But when has peace ever lasted?


Teddy was excited to finally be starting at Hogwarts. Uncle Harry took him to Kings Cross Station early, about 10 am. They had just crossed into Platform 9 ¾. Almost immediately, Harry Potter said, "Bloody Hell."

Harry just saw a man he never thought he would see again, a man who once made his life hell, a man who he had forgiven but not spoken to in 11 years: Dudley Dursley. Now, he looked good. He looked to be a healthy weight; his blond hair was cropped, and was well dressed. He had a son with him. His son had shoulder length dark blonde hair and light blue eyes and was wearing a red hoodie and a pair of khaki cargo shorts. He was slightly heavy set, rather like a rugby player, but not overweight.

That took Harry a minute to process. Dudley had a son? How did he get someone pregnant during the Year of Hell?

Teddy asked, "What you looking at?"

Harry responded, "Something unexpected."

Dudley's son looked over at the slightly short messy raven haired adult and the purple haired 11 year-old. The 11 year old looked… oddly colour coordinated, purple skinny jeans, purple vest, a white and purple polka dotted bow tie, and a purple striped V-neck shirt, even violet eyes. He could feel them looking this way. He asked, "Do you know the people standing over their?" He pointed to the pair.

Dudley turned to see and gaped as he saw his cousin. He wasn't expecting him to be here for at least a few more years. He said to his son, slightly embarrassed, "Um… that's our cousin."

Josh said excitedly, "Let's go talk to them. He's just as surprised as you are." Then he paused and said, "He's not angry at you anymore." He grabbed his father's sleeve and pulled him to meet his relatives.

Dudley said, awkwardly, "Hi, Harry."

Harry responded equally awkwardly, "Hello."

After a long pause, "Hi, I'm Teddy Lupin." Teddy then extended his hand to Dudley, who shook it, and then to Josh, who didn't. Teddy was slightly offended.

Dudley said, "He doesn't like to be touched. Introduce yourself to your cousins."

Josh said, slightly shyly, "I'm Josh Dursley." He suddenly realized that dragging his dad to meet people was a bad idea. Of course they would want to touch him.

Harry asked, "How are you about this whole thing?"

Dudley responded, "I'm proud of my son. I can't wait until the others start."

Harry said, "Don't mean to rain on your parade, but most muggles only have one magic child at most, maybe two."

Dudley responded, "I've seen 3 of the others do magic already. My wife is from a semi-recent squib line."

Harry mouth dropped. Harry said, "How many kids do you have?"

Dudley chuckled and replied, "5. My wife's family has a tendency to have a lot of kids."

Harry asked, "Any idea why you got so many wizards?"

Josh answered, interrupting a little, "Dad was hit by a lot of spells during the war he never speaks of. I think he absorbed magic from all those spells."

Harry looked questioningly and said, "You were involved in the war?"

Dudley replied, "Yes. Mainly assisting in the escape of muggleborns to France." There was an edge to his voice that Harry recognized as what he called 'war voice'. He saw a lot more than he let on, but kids don't need to know about that.

Harry said, "Squibs are exposed to direct magic all the time. They don't have it." And then, directly to Josh, he stated, "It was a good try, though."

Josh said, "But not the nasty magic, the kind you can't heal."

Harry looked at Dudley and said, "Nasty magic?"

Dudley, not really wanting to say it, pulled up his left trouser leg to reveal a prosthetic.

Harry was shocked. Dudley said, "The curse was Sectumsempra."

Harry realizing a change of subject was in order, said, "How are your parents about this?"

Dudley gave a mirthless laugh. He said, "Dad died 5 years ago to a heart attack. Mom… isn't all here anymore. She held it together for dad, but since then… "

Harry said, "I'm sorry."

Dudley responded, "Don't be. I saw how bigoted they were during the war. I hardly have spoken to either of them since the war."

Harry said, "That's too bad."

Dudley said, redirecting the conversation, "I seem to remember your school list was a little different from this year's."

Harry replied, "My sister-in-law pretty much reformed Hogwarts. She brought it up to American standards."

Dudley's face dropped. "American Standards?"

Harry, realizing his mistake replied, "While the muggle American education system is shit, the magical education system is considered the best for its integration of muggle and wizard topics. Unlike when I went to school, English Literature, Mathematics, Computer Sciences, Music, and Art are actually taught, along with magic classes."

Dudley seemed more relaxed. He said, "How exactly are electronics working at Hogwarts? I was told magic plus tech equalled fail."

Harry replied, "I suck at the subtle, complex magics, but I think the massive damage done to Hogwarts forced it to reconnect with the world instead of maintaining perfect isolation. The changes in the world magic allow the two to coexist, unlike back when the castle was built. That's what Hermione said, anyway."

Dudley said, "I think I almost, maybe, understand, sort of."

Harry asked, "How exactly did you find the Leaky Cauldron?"

Dudley responded, "During the trips to France, no one wanted to be quiet. I asked some questions of the wizards. I was told the general location, and then saw the interesting pub."

Harry's eyebrows rose, "You could see it without Josh pointing it out?"

Dudley responded, "Is that weird?"

Harry said, "The Leaky Cauldron has muggle repelling charms. Most muggles have to be directly shown it, have it pointed out, for them to see it."

Dudley said, "I had to look to see a lot during the war. Maybe I built up a tolerance to muggle repelling charms."

Harry shrugged his shoulders. Something he would have to look into. "What do you do?"

Dudley said, "Social worker, what about you?"

Harry was again surprised, "I'm an Auror. It's a…"

Dudley interrupted, "Magical police. I spent a year among wizards. I can handle a discussion about wizards without explanations."

Harry, not wanting to piss off his cousin, asked, "Why did you become a social worker?"

Dudley answered, "I watched abuse once and did nothing. I won't do it again."

Josh interrupted, "He even wrote a book about the abuse he watched. The kid's name was Terry."

Harry looked shocked. "You wrote a book about our home life?"

Dudley replied, "I took out all references to any magic. Just made my parents out to be the… terrible people they were."

The train finally came. The two 11 year olds got up into the train and went up to the front of it; Josh was about to find a separate compartment when Teddy said, "Come on, cuz. You're not sitting alone."

Josh smiled. It was nice to know that he had someone to have his back. He hoped he would have his back if his secret came out.

Teddy, oddly, had the exact same thought.

They settled in to the compartment.

Josh asked, "Are we cousins? Harry's not your dad."

Teddy jaw dropped. "How could you tell?"

Josh replied, "Umm… you don't look like him?"

Teddy then changed his hair, eyes, and skin tone to match Harry's. He even included the scar.

Josh responded, "Touché, but still not your dad."

Teddy replied, "He's my godfather."

Josh knew that continuing with those questions was a bad idea. Teddy would tell him when he feels like. Secrets would go both ways.

Josh asked, suddenly feeling inadequate, "Am I supposed to be able to do that?"

Teddy was stunned by the question. No one had ever assumed that. He replied, with a slight laugh, "No. Metamorphmagi are really rare. I think I am the only one in the United Kingdom."

Josh asked, "Are there any other gifts wizards are born with?"

Teddy cocked his head at that. His hair turned grey. He replied, "Um, Harry told me about seers. And he's a parseltongue, so he can talk to snakes. He doesn't like to though. There might be more, you can ask a professor after class. Nevi… I mean Professor Longbottom is really nice and would be happy to answer a question like that."

Josh said, "Oh. Um…" He searched for a normal, neutral topic. "Do you play any sports?"

Teddy's hair turned yellow. Teddy said, "I play Quidditch."

Josh knew exactly how to respond. "How do you play Quidditch?"

Teddy spent an hour explaining the complexities of Quidditch, then another half hour talking about some of the British teams, and then a quarter hour explaining how he knew and had to support 4 teams.

Josh asked after an explanation which left him wanting to play, "Are there any other wizard sports?"

Teddy took a moment, changed his hair and eyes back to purple, and said, "Wizard duelling is sort of sport. And Americans play a weird game called Quodpot with an exploding ball. Exhibition flying is a sport. So is broom racing. What kind of muggle sports do you play?"

Josh replied, "I played Football for a while."

Josh spent an hour explaining the rules of football.

The food trolley came by. Josh was hesitant to buy the candy because he had forgotten to convert his allowance into wizard money.

Teddy bought a ton of candy for the two to share.

Josh said, "I'll pay you back later."

Teddy replied, "Don't. In between the Potter and Black fortunes, Harry is probably the richest wizard in the UK. Harry never lets any Weasley pay if they go out together."

Josh asked, "Weasley?"

Teddy chuckled and said, "Harry's wife's family. Pretty influential cuz of all they did for the war."

As they began to eat the wizard sweets, Josh asked, "Can you tell me all you know about the war? Who fought? Why? What happened?"

Teddy began to tell the tale of a man once named Tom Riddle who believed firmly in the purity of blood. He told of some of the horrors that this man did. How he was defeated by a baby named Harry Potter, and then came back after 13 years. How the war started all over. How Harry Potter defeated him permanently.

Josh said, "Your parents died in the war." It wasn't a question, but nor was it condolences.

Teddy asked, "How did you know?"

Josh said, "Er… your hair darkened slightly as you mentioned the end of the war, indicating a distant sadness. Your hair is very telling."

Something about that… didn't sit right with Teddy. His hair always changed dramatically. He knew there was a lie in that statement. But he wasn't going to call him out. He knew better than to push a new friend into a corner.

They chatted for a while longer. As they neared Hogwarts, Teddy asked, "Do you have anything nice to change into? You want to look nice for the Sorting."

Josh pulled out a pair of khaki pants and a long sleeve black polo. "This good?"

Teddy said, "Yeah."

Josh said, as he prepared to change, "Aren't you going to change?"

Teddy replied, "Everyone already has their opinion of me. Might as well go extreme."

Josh wasn't sure what he meant by that, but accepted the answer.

The train pulled into Hogsmeade Station.


End file.
